Left work at 7pm on Friday and rushed back to the apt to try and get the laundry done before the room closes… of course the one time I go down there on a Friday.. it’s packed… so had to schlub 40 lbs of clothes back up and wait for the cycle to clear out… wound up finishing all 4 loads at 10pm… yeesh.. but since the wife was working late again.. it didnt’ feel all that late.. but I had to get up at 6am to hit the links with the bro in law… so I sacked out by about midnight up at 6… and off I went to NJ… great thing about being up that early.. sausage McMuffin… mmm… weather was great for golf.. too bad I hadn’t played in two years… so had one birdie, one par, one bogie and 15 holes of triple bogey or higher…nice…. but was good to get out and play a round… for every five horrible shots that go two feet.. there is that one 250 yard drive or approach shot that actually lands softly on the green.. golf is such a ridiculous game

Got back to the apt.. popped in the shower and met up with the wife at the bro in laws place to spend some quality time with the neice and nephew….babies are so funny.. when they belong to someone else.. but it was just what the doctor ordered for the wife who had to go into the office while I was out hitting golf balls into every water hazard on the course, nothing picks you up out of a funk as the sound of a 2 1/2 year old laughing her butt off, or a loud ass burp from a tiny 15 pound newborn… after a couple of hours with the babies.. we had dinner at Chipotle… Cali style burritto joint that just opened up on our block.. pretty tasty…

Then back to pack up our overnight bag and party duds to spend the night at the in laws in NJ… I passed out before my head hit the pillow… after a good nights sleep we had our usual Sunday brunch with the in laws and then put on our wedding best and headed to New Rochelle for a college buddy’s wedding …. met up with some friends I haven’t seen in a while… and of course, the wife is off to the races as soon as the champagne is passed around… then at cocktail hour two more glasses and a shot of Belvedere for good measure… the wedding was very nice ..esp since it felt quite a bit like ours…. wedding officiant… sister of our officiant… band.. our band… wedding favors.. photos… same as us, cake… dead ringer… and I found out later from the groom’s mother that the whole wedding was more or less based on ours.. which is really cool , that they had such a good time at our’s that the wanted their own to be like ours….. and the wife kept hitting the sauce… a G&T here.. a glass of wine there… Soco and lime there.. and before you know it… she’s screaming and dancing… then after dinner… in the pooper praying to the porcelain gods… I decided to exit a little early since I was realizing I would have no navigator and I don’t know New Rochelle of NJ… and as luck would have the the CD for the navi in my MIL’s big ass shiny S500….was not there… so I tried to reverse directions from the  tiny wedding invite directions… wound up on Greenwhich CT naturally…. finally made it back to NJ.. and then hit an hours worth of traffic on the GWB.. which must have felt even longer for Pukey McPukesALot riding shotgun…

All in all a very event filled weekend.. then I had to go to work and then I felt like blowing my brains out… I hate having a job… maybe I’ll feel better if I buy some more sneakers….

On a side note.. my parents did finally call to wish me a happy bday.. on Satruday!!!.. my birthday was Tuesday… they are too busy now for their only child… parents join a club with wave pool and badmington courts and they lose their minds….oy

Well,  the job sucks balls, the wife is being worked to death, we are about to close on the new place and face the horrific task of packing… but there are lots of new sneaks.. so I am happy

AF1 high tops… grreen, black and orange.. with plaid lining… nice pick up fromn Training Camp

New Balance 575… brown and orange.. ridiculously comfortable.. Zappos rules

Adidas Safety Superstars.. the toe box is almost steel toe for when you drop a bowling ball on your dogs, with sweet cartoon lining.. another Zappos score

AM 90 Untold Truth Satchell Page editions… never will be worn… copped at Alife

Dunk SB = super fat tongue, brown with faux aligator swoosh… sweet B day gift from the sis in law

Jordan Low.. my very first pair of Jordans.. they went on sale so I got a pair.. the soles have all the logos through the years… and they pretty much look just like Dunks

Side note.. my freakin parents never called me on my b day… and I am their only child!! I remember once my Mom got huffy because I didn’t call her on Mothers Day… because I was going to meet up with her and take her to dinner!!… if they ever complain about me not calling enough…

I just flipped pass National Geographic and watched a documentary on the Green Berets (US Army Special Forces) and was floored when I saw his picture on the screen. I went to high school with Staff Sergeant Chay and while not one of my closet friends, I remember him very fondly during my high school days. He made sure I didn’t crack my skull open when I tried to do handstands during gym since he was on the gymnastics team. He leaves behind two children and a widow. Please take a moment to read his story below and if you feel inclined to, make a small donation to help his family.

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Staff Sergeant Kyu H. Chay, 34, of Fayetteville, NorthCarolina, died on October 28, 2006, in the Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan, from injuries suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his combat patrol. Chay was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. A New Yorker killed while helping to fight the war on terror is being remembered as a wonderful son, brother, husband, and father.

Sergeant Kyu H. Chay, 34, who survived a tour in Iraq, died Tuesday in Afghanistan, when a roadside bomb exploded near a convoy in which he was riding.

“He was such a kind, generous person,” said Kyu T. Chay, Sergeant Chay’s brother. The men shared the same first name, a tradition in some Korean families.

Kyu T. Chay said their parents are devastated. Sam and Soon Chays are well known and highly regarded in Chappaqua, where the family operates a dry cleaning store.

The brothers were born in South Korea, and moved with their parents to New York in the 1980s. Both graduated from the Bronx High School of the Sciences and attended SUNY-Albany

Sergeant Chay, an Arabic linguist with the Special Forces, joined the Army in 2001, a few months before the 9/11 terror attacks. His brother said Sgt. Chay was motivated by gratitude to America for the opportunities his parents found here.

“He always appreciated coming to this country,” said Chay. “He loved being American, loved being here, appreciated everything this country offered to him, and he wanted to give back in some way.”

Sergeant Chay was married to Cathy, his college sweetheart at SUNY-Albany. Before joining the army, Chay studied law at Brooklyn Law School.

The Chays lived in North Carolina with their two children, five-year old Jason and 10-month old Kelly.

“My sister-in-law is a strong woman,” said Chay. “She’s being strong for her children, but of course she’s suffered great trauma.”

Cathy Chay told the Associated Press “he was just a wonderful father and husband to me.”

Kyu T. Chay said no man could have been a better brother.

“He loved me a great deal, and I loved him,” Chay said. “He was my best friend, and I just have good memories of how we grew up together.”

Sergeant Kyu H. Chay will be honored at several ceremonies in the days ahead. His Army family will salute him at Fort Bragg next week. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery on November 13, 2006. His family will hold a memorial service for him in Westchester County on November 19, 2006.

A memorial fund has been established to help provide for Sgt. Chay’s children.

Donations may be sent to:

Sergeant Kyu Chay Memorial Fund
350 W. 42nd Street
Unit #18-B
New York, New York 10036

This past week I had to return an offering plan for the first apt we looked at during our search.. I put a small deposit on the plan so noone could scoop the apt from us in case we decided to move forward… after seeing the neighborhood and the apt itself.. we decided to pass on it.. but I still had to bring the paperwork back to get back my deposit… so I headed to Columbus Circle after work on Tuesday… at the new job.. the floor I work on for some reason has the men’s room by the elevators and outside the main entrance to the floor.. which means I have to swipe my ID everytime I need to take a whiz… so after leaving it on my desk one too many times.. I decided to use the belt clippy zip string ID holder doo dad they gave me.. so most days when I leave.. I forget to take it off until I get home… this evening I needed to make a quick stop first… so I get to the lobby of the sales office and tell the security guy I need to go up… he asks me my name.. and I tell him… then he calls up and tell the person at the sales office I have so and so coming up.. then while still on the phone he asks me for ID.. so I reach for my pocket but realize I still have my ID clipped to my beltt.. so I give him my work ID zippy clip doo dad and all.. he then goes back on the phone and proceeds to tell the receptionist…” yeah.. I have Dootchie Bank here to see you”… I try to tell the guy… my name is not dootchie bank… I work for dootchie bank.. but am not here as a rep of dootchie bank… and my name on the ID is not the big blue letters with the logo next to it on the top of the ID.. but the little black letters under the picture of me… I guess you don’t need to be a member of Mensa to work a security desk…

the wife has been in Lisbon the past few days… I have been spending my weekend watching documentaries on sneakers and reading books on the history of sneakers (I am odd) and watching my beloved Yankees go into a tailspin that I am not sure is recoverable…another pitcher hurt?… broken leg, broken finger.. Clemens is going to come in and prob get hurt too… he is going to be paid more than a million bucks a week….if I ever have a son…. I am going to have him start pitching at age 3.. but a strange side effect from this weekend.. my hatred of the Mets is lessening… I grew up hating them because of Gooden, Strawberry and Henrandez… cokeheads… of course two of them later became Yankees… but watching them this weekend.. I saw great baseball… they have a lot of good young players who use what they have, speed, small ball… and good baserunning….and of course Wille will always be a Yankee and I want him to be successful wherever he goes… so I will go on record.. if the Mets go to the series and are not playing the Yankees.. I will root for the Mets

…my plan was to not leave the apt from Fri night until Sunday afternoon.. but last night the newborn nephew was running a fever and needed to go to the hospital so I headed down to the bro in law’s apt to make sure someone kept the niece company while the parents were at the hospital… the wife comes in this afternoon and we go back to the apt to take another look, basically to kick the tires… since we are signing the contract tomorrow I think I would like to see the apt for more than five minutes before I plunk down a nice little chunk of change…

suprise suprise.. there are no new sneaker this week… mostly because we need to save every penny now to get ready for closing and the myriad of costs that we’ll need to pay for no reason… but I did finally buy a Nintendo Wii… and they only come in bundles.. so I had to buy extra controllers and games… but it still costs less than the PS3… it hould be arriving tomorrow…carpel tunnell here I come….

Well… it looks like me and the Mrs may be leaving the Columbia U area pretty soon… this week we went to look at a few apts.. and fell in love with one of them on the spot… asked the pappa in law to take a peek and give it his stamp of approval since he is much more knowledgable in all matters of real estate than we are and he gave it his thumbs up too.. so we put in an offer on Friday.. got the offer accepted same day and may be going into contract early next week, and once in contract we would have to close within 90 days… just got off the phone with Chase and are now pre qualified for the mortgage we would need to swing the joint.. yikes…. needless to say me and the Mrs are a little woozy at how fast it all happened and at the idea of being chained down to a monster mortgage… no more running away… but we do need to get out of this apt at some point since it has never really felt like a grown up apt… and it looks like the time could be soon….so the next 90 days should prove to be very interesting… good news is that if we get the place we will be right next to the super cool niece and nephew… bad news is that D is moving across the street soon and we may never get the chance to play neighbors again like we were when he was in law school… and as expected.. the sneaker collecting grows yet again

The blue Philly AF1′s…  

Red Philly AF1 Supremes…

Black and Blue Nike AF2′s Escape editions…these are the most comfortable shoes ever

Well it has been about two weeks now.. and I still can’t decide which is worse… trying to find a job.. or now having one… but I am still thankful that my job is not like the wife’s job… last Friday I met up with her to have dinner at her boss’ house up in Westchester… which was sort of surreal.. but sorta nice.. her boss looks like Clint Eastwood if he always smiled, they really were like the Cleavers.. even with the well adjusted and well behaved teenaged daughter…but after we left Westchester.. she and her partner had to go to the printers… at 11:30pm…on a Friday night… and came home at 6am.. slept until 8am.. then went back… came home that night around 9pm.. slept for 8 hours or so.. then left again on Sunday morning.. and I didn’t see her again until Tuesday morning at 2am…well I stopped by the printers after I got out of work.. and it was like the land of the living dead…greasy hair.. a little BO in the air… and just looks of a room of people running on fumes… including my poor wife… she is taking it in stride though and I think I get more worked up over her hours than she does… so she lost the whole weekend and I spent Saturday hanging with the parents since they were in town to do their taxes, they hung out with me during the day and I made them watch An Inconvenient Truth….they def perked up when the graphic of Shanghai being flooded came on…Sunday went to go see the babies and to drop off the nephew’s sweet kicks ( I got him another pair this week) …Tuesday the wife got to finally sleep and catch her breath.. we went to go see the babies again that night.. then back to usual… she came home last night around midnight and today.. it is about 10pm and no word on when she’ll get home… my job is going OK I guess.. the environment is pretty low key… and the work is… well work… but it could be a lot worse, have been spending the past week and change just getting all of my passwords and accounts set up with IT… and I just elected my contributions for my 401K… oy…

and the addiction rages on..

The Jordan 3 inspired Dunks… damn, the elephant skin…. these ain’t never getting worn

Adventure Pack Dunks… green and orange… suede… yowza

Suede Dunks… brown with a little bit of purple….

Nike Air Zoom Dunkestos.. hybrid of Dunks and Prestos… super comfortable and I think they worn by Dr Greg House on last weeks episode

Blue Gray and Orange Dunks… spotted these at Reed Space a while ago and finally got them… the gray on the quarter is checkered… nice

my goodness the Yankees suck ass….

Well Monday is my official first day at the new gig, dropped off my last bit of paperwork on Friday… I have to report to the midtown office for the first day cuz I need to meet a couple of people there I think.. but as far as I know of.. I will be heading down to 60 Wall every day…during the span of the last 6 years.. I have worked at 1 Wall St… 110 Wall St… and now 60 Wall St…. weird… it’s been four plus years since I have worked downtown… and of course now that I am going to be working downtown again.. the wife’s office is in midtown…wound up going to an interview up in Purchase, NY this Wednesday just to make sure I covered all my bases and because I was bored of sitting at home all week.. they made me an offer the same day and seemed pretty eager to get me, which was a nice ego stroke after looking for a job for two months… but in the end the amount that it would have taken to get me to commute up to Westchester everyday in my head was too much for them to justify… but at least I got out of the house for a few hours that day….

the big news from last week is that the new baby nephew has arrived!!!… the little man tipped the scales at 8lbs plus last Friday.. and we got to spend Saturday on the night shift as back up to watch over the neice… as far as I can tell the little dude is made out of muscle… he was flopping around like a shark in my arms moving / thrashing his head and neck everywhere.. and he was just 1 day old at this point!!..I remember when the neice was just back from the hospital.. she would just sleep, drool and spit up….took her days to be able to move her head on her own….the little man less than 24 hours… the big question now is how the little niece is going to deal with this new invader to her domain…it should be interesting….I have already went out and got him a pair of baby Air Jordans… so sweet…and got him a boy size pair of Nike Dunk Lows with the year of the pig embroidered on the heel…super sweet

the rents are due in later on this week, they are going to a college reunion in Taiwan… then they are coming into NY to file their taxes, think they are going to be around for two weeks or so and are staying in Queens with old friends, alas no room at the inn at our apt….. I just did our taxes this week since my old employer took their sweet ass time sending me my W-2… but the good news is we are getting a nice chunk of change back from the gub-ment…we’ll prob spend it all on dresses/shoes/handbags for the wife and sneakers/toys for me, but ideally we can tuck a few bucks away into the savings account which has been getting lonelier and lonelier this past year….I am going through the same spending frenzy the wife went through before she went back to work.. think I will most likely be following her lead and spending like a crazy person as I try to justify to myself why I am back in an office, wearing shoes and a belt…. instead of hauling a 40lb pack around strange countries in shorts and trail runners..man.. it was a glorious year….

Today is the first nice Saturday we have had in some time in NY… there is a street fair outside and I just inhaled a sausage with peppers and onions on a hero for lunch.. but the Mrs is nearing a closing and had to make her way to the office today… I thought about going to Dunkxchange NYC… which is pretty much a comic book show.. but for sneakers.. the idea of being stuck in a room with a bunch of  hipsters and 15 year old B&T kids with their moms wasn’t doing it for me… I’ll stick to getting my shoes the new fashioned way… on my laptop and away from the riff raff…

now that the year of wandering the earth is over and done with.. next project… new digs… not sure yet if we are going to keep looking for an apt in the UWS.. or gulp.. maybe a house in Jersey….stay tuned

yeah.. there are more sneakers

Ohhh.. NB 574 Japan Edition

Air Max 90 Premium.. silver, black and purple…I managed to cop them for 40 bucks cheaper than retail…nice

Nike Insurgent Premium Redwood Editions… small air window in the back of the heel…yikes

Nike Legend… not super exclusive or pricey.. just a solid everyday shoe that I won’t be afraid to wear

Asics Onitsuka Tiger Limber Ups, so lightweight, comfortable, and cheap….

Baby Jordans!!!… I have never had a pair of AJ’s.. but the little man will be breaking necks with these

 a pair of sneakers not for me… these Boys size 6 are for the newborn nephew… these are Asia exclusives.. Year of the Pig Dunks…. so sweet.. when the little man is old enough to rock these.. he is going to be uber retro…

The Mrs and I had the chance to spend the entire weekend at the bro in laws place waiting on the pregnant lady to pop… but more importantly we got to lounge with the super cool neice all weekend… she is def the coolest person I know and is pretty darn cute to boot… we all ventured out of doors on Saturday to take advantage of the weather and walked down to Time Warner to have lunch at Whole Foods.. then we made our way for a little shopping to get our retail fix.. the wife scored a new bag, new sweater and a new pair of shoes.. me on the other hand.. copped a pair of AF1′s… my first.. well except for my pair of fake-o’s.. speaking of which.. I sported my fake o Pigeon Dunks and went shopping in them.. and lo and behold.. two people walked up to me and commented about my kicks.. first was a sales guy at Tip Top shoes… “Pigeons?.. those are tight”…middle age white guy, not some punk hipster skater .. ok weird… then at the wife’s shoe store a girl just walked up to me while I was sitting there waiting for the wife and said ” you are really brave to wear those out… they look mint and crispy.. if you are wearing those.. clearly you understand shoe shopping..”… I really didn’t have the heart to tell her that they cost me 40 bucks and were made in some knock off factory in China.. when real ones fetch 2,500 bones at Flight Club… but the girl used to work at Nike ID Lab.. so she is in the biz, she asked me if I had ever been and I told her I am going there for my b day in June….. needless to say.. I don’t think I will ever be able to wear the Pigeons again, can’t take the attention with knock off kicks… sad, cuz they are super comfortable…but for now.. scope the newest kicks…

Tan suede with university blue….XXV editions….

Two more pairs (Old School Bo Jackson trainers from way back in the 90′s) on the way from pickyourshoes.com.. can’t wait.. they should be arriving the same day as my offer letter… schweet….

ohh….Air Trainer One with the baby blue accent…

ahhh….the Air Trainer One SB Bamboo edition….don’t know if I will ever wear these..

shoes here.. now just waiting on the offer letter….

and now it’s really over…. no more contracting by the hour… now playtime is really over… a job that I have to take seriously… but at least now I can waste my money on sneakers and not feel guilty…

I am weird… for the past few weeks we have been hitting the LES and SoHo and popping into all the cool sneaker stores in the city Alife, Supreme, Clientelle, Stackhouse…etc… and it has become abundantly clear to me that I am def not cool enough to be into sneakers the way that I am… I don’t wear Evisu jeans and 10 Deep hoodies, and the latest New Era fitted.. I wear the $29 Levis jeans I find on Amazon.com and the Adidas hoodie I found for $30 at the outlet… I wear my Nike SB’s with North Face climbing pants (the most comfortable pants in the world) and a Yankees jersey… and I am most certainly not a skater boy or a club boy… I am tubby old fart who lives on the UWS with a wife and two cats.. and about to start a full time job with a bank in a structured equity finance group… the anithesis of a hipster… but then again I guess this is nothing new… I have been into toys for over six years now..first just trying to block up the holes in the shelf to partition the apt.. which turned into an obsession… we hit Kid Robot on Prince St this weekend too.. I have never seen it that crowded before.. the place was packed… I mean jam packed..I used to be able to go in there and just drool over the toys that were too pricey for me… but now the place is full of ….tourists and people who have no idea what they are looking at… art….yeesh… I have been going there since they opened.. and now they are selling their clothes at Barneys.. ugh.. recently I spotted a dummy with a Kid Robot hoodie, jeans and Nike AF1′s.. at Barneys!!… I have no idea where this is going.. I guess it is just weird to be into what is currently trendy stuff.. when you yourself are anything but trendy… in any case.. I am finally going to post pics of my super cool toy collection and be proud of the uber toy geek that I am…

I did manage to come across a website that is catered to dorks just like me…

http://freshnessmag.com

two Chinky kids from NYC who are into sneakers and toys… God bless the internet

The holes in the shelf have been totally filled.. and then some… the cubby holes are mostly full of Marvel and DC characters.. and of course Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow….the top is for the vinyl stuff

Michael Lau’s LMF series… Davy and MC Yan… and four dogs.. my fave HK designer

Some more Michael Lau, Tim Tsui, KR, Jarvis, and assorted Japanese stuff.. some of it actually purchased in Japan

Side view… Drinky Crow is very cool… the SWAT dude in the black is where it all started.. picked it up in Taiwan at a street market… had no idea what it was but just knew it was very cool.. and lots of Kubricks

Other side view… Doraeman!! Three Zero, Qee, Munny, Jarvis, KR

The whole shelf of coolness.. to be fair some of it belongs to the wife.. she is really in Tokidoki right now

Oy.. well it all begins again tomorrow… 8:30 down at 60 Wall…play time is officially over… so to lessen the pain of going back to the daily grind…. I went and copped two new pairs of kicks after filling out some paperwork…

My second pair of NB’s… the tan and brown 100 Year Anniversary editions…

Sweet

Gray and black Nike Dunk Lo

Top view of the new 6.0′s